This was not my favorite psychological thriller. I did not like the characters and didn’t think their decisions were realistic. I could not get interested in this book. I had to force myself to finish it to write this review.

Some of the character names were annoying and confusing; Poppy, Pippa, and Pammie.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm sure many readers will love this page turner, but I did not. I read it faithfully for a while and then started skimming and skipping ahead. I did this because it was painful to read what the protagonist was experiencing and frustrating that she put up with the circumstances. No spoilers here. The end was surprising but didn't ring true. There needed to be quite a suspense of disbelief. I find the mother-in-law from hell storyline to be a bit tired. I'm still giving it three stars, because I thought it was good writing.

This one took me for a trip! I didn’t know who to trust, even in the end when everything was revealed. I love when books do this! The narrator isn’t one I would classify as unreliable, but yet, you can never be sure. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!


I received an advance copy, all thoughts are my own.

This book got great ratings so I was super excited to read it! I HATE writing reviews like this but I couldn't stand this book :( It took me forever to even get going in the book so already I started off fairly bored. Emily and Adam meeting was so brief I could never understand how she fell so hard for him and why! So therefore I never understood why she was so convinced he was "the one". But the reason I went with a one star instead of a two star was because of Emily's character. I hated the fact the fact that Emily was treated so horribly by both Pammie and Adam yet "let me just stay with him because he's the one." And just the small things like her being scared to ask him questions because she didn't want to scare him off, etc. I get the point why the author decided to do this but NO. Not an okay subliminal message and not enjoyable to read. The twists weren't that shocking to me and actually created a hole or two in the plot. I ended up rating this a 1 star because I didn't like Emily, Adam, Pammie, the plot, or the twists. I'm super happy for those of you who really loved this book and it's twists but it's not one I would recommend to my family or friends.

If you have ill feelings towards your mother-in-law this story will make you glad it isn’t Pammie - right up to the shocking ending. Emily feels like she’s the only one who sees the real Pammie. It makes her question everything. But Emily is determined to win the battle for Adam’s love and devotion. Turns out, Adam is a tosser.

I'm giving The Other Woman by Sandie Jones a 3/5 stars. What I got from this book was not what I expected. It definitely wasn't much of a thriller, though it was still an interesting read. I saw a lot of things coming, but certain things were a complete surprise. This book was just so weird for me. I like it, but I also don't. Several of the characters just aren't great people, which is the point but it almost went too far at times. I just don't understand how Emily put up with all of that for so long. The layout of this book was also a little weird. There were a few random time jumps and not everything was explained as thoroughly as I wanted it to be. Overall, this was an interesting read, though it was not what I expected whatsoever.

After breaking up with her cheating ex-boyfriend, Emily has stayed away from relationships. She is successful at her job and although she is not getting any younger, she is happy.

Meeting Adam during celebration at a pub, she is intrigued by him. He has a winning smile and is very handsome. As he pursues her, Emily begins to wonder about how much she knows about him and his past. He is not very forthcoming. As time goes by, Emily is able to learn more and more about Adam and cannot help but completely falling for him. All is bliss until she meets what appears to be her mother in law from hell. Pammie continually tries to separate them and cause friction. She is a bit extreme in her efforts and you will not be able to control yourself from hating her!

This is a good book. I am rating it with 3 stars because, for me, the plot becomes too contrived at the end. I will not tell you what happens. No spoilers here. I think the author could have worked on the last plot twist a bit better in order to really bring this novel to the excellent level it could have been. My opinion. You read it and decide for yourself. Still, the first three quarters of the book were very engaging and entertaining.

I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Thank you to the publisher for sharing a copy with me.

The Other Woman. by Sandie Jones

I enjoyed this gripping thriller as it is all about psychological warfare. Emily a modern, working girl is not so lucky with her partners till she meets the ‘perfect one’ Adam, alas, he comes with a downright nasty, passive-aggressive, manipulating, double-faced mother. While Emily begins to doubt herself she also ignores the first warning signs of Adam’s behavior. It is gripping until the end. The tinies drawback is Adams brother, his character is not credible, nor is his dual role as supporter or seducer. Otherwise a perfect page-turner, which I would recommend.

Who here has a bat-crap crazy mother-in-law?

*throws hand in the air*

Oh, I see. You all are just too scared to admit it. Smart people.

*slowly lowers hand and looks around in fear for MIL*

Most of our husbands’ mothers aren’t really all that bad. They can be a little overbearing at times, definitely have a tendency to stick their noses where they don’t belong and have mastered the “guilt trip”. Emily’s future mother-in-law, however, is a freaking nightmare!

I was worried about starting this book because there was so much hype about it and I find that a lot of over-hyped books tend to fall flat for me. I proceeded with caution but found that it was completely unnecessary. I loved this book! I was immediately drawn into the story and found it quite hard to put down. In fact, if I would have read another 20 or so pages that first night…this would have been a one sitting read.

I’m usually pretty good at picking up on the little tells that hint at the ending but The Other Woman had me pretty stumped. The signs were all there but I was so engrossed in Pammie and Emily’s tug of war that I completely missed them until the last 30 or so pages. The author has managed to hide the most important details in plain sight through this whole book but she has also written it in such a fast paced way that you don’t even realize how predictable this book really is until it hits you right in the face! That’s pretty impressive, in my opinion. I was not a huge fan of the ending, though. It wasn’t a bad way to finish this book off but I will admit that I was a little heartbroken at the way things played out.

I won’t go as far as to call this a thriller but Jones has written every woman’s psychological horror story. With a terrifyingly relatable storyline and a lightning fast pace, I would recommend this page turner to anyone. Especially if you are a man with a mother…or a woman who’s significant other has a mother…or if you are a mother. You know what? Just buy the book. I think this would be an enjoyable read for practically everyone.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to enjoy.

When Emily meets Adam, it was love at first sight. They liked the same things, enjoyed spending time together, and Emily began to hope that Adam would soon propose. The only flaw in their otherwise beautiful romance was Pammie, Adam’s mother. Adam was a fierce defender of his mother, and refused to even hear of any flaw in her character.

Pammie did everything she could possibly think of to ruin Emily and Adam’s relationship. She spoke of the deep sadness they all felt when Adam’s first serious girlfriend, Rebecca, died unexpectedly; implying Emily was second choice and would never measure up. She had Adam’s brother work on Emily to get her to cheat with him. At the bachelorette party, she invited Charlotte; a one-time friend of Emily’s who had been sleeping with Emily’s last boyfriend. Pammie even goes so far as to announce she has cancer at the rehearsal dinner, causing Adam to postpone the wedding until his darling mother is well again. Pammie is manipulative and controlling, and Emily can’t seem to pry Adam away from her, even after Emily and Adam’s child is born.

This was absolutely not what I was expecting. Mom playing helpless – check. Son buying into it-check. Some weird symbiotic relationship-check. I was floored at the level Pammie would stoop to to protect Adam, and I definitely did not suspect who the real psychopath was. This was a fascinating read that I finished in one sitting.

This story, in terms of plot, was right up my alley but very quickly in that feeling started to change. I am perfectly capable of suspending reality if it helps the story but in this case there was a level of desperation to Emily that I not only couldn't connect with, but absolutely hated. She meets the love of her life even though him and his mom treat her like absolute garbage but hey, it's love so we can ignore all that, right?

I kept reading because I wanted to see how it all panned out, to see if the plot aside from that got better. But Emily should have been the most relatable character if not the most likable and she wasn't. She was whiny, desperate and honestly, delusional.

The one thing The Other Woman had going was the twist but it really wasn't worth slogging through the rest of it to find out and it wasn't the greatest twist. I almost wished we'd got a few snippets from Pammie's POV because at least she was awful but interesting. The story, it turns out, just wasn't for me.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones is a captivating read. It has very strong female characters that I couldn’t help but love or hate right from the start. My heart broke for Emily who just couldn’t catch a break. At the same time, I was captivated by Pammie, the evil mom-in-law. Her behavior shocked me and at some point, I started wondering if this is the right read for me especially seeing that I will soon have a mom-in-law of my own. Pammie was entertaining, scary and I looked forward to reading about her with both excitement and trepidation.

This was a captivating read. Narrated by Emily, readers get to follow her story about her relationship and involvement with the Banks family. I thought that I had the entire narrative figured out but towards the end, a major twist was thrown in. I can’t really say that it shocked me because I could see it coming. However, I think I figured it out only when the author wanted me to do so. I don’t know if that makes sense but it wasn’t a twist that I could have predicted at the beginning of the story. The evil mom-in-law trope might seem like nothing new but trust me; Jones did bring in a new, unique angle to the story.

This was a well-narrated, enjoyable read and I loved being part of Emily and Pammie’s crazy world.

2.5 stars

The Other Woman is a wildly entertaining psychological thriller that's, unfortunately, more about the twist than substance.

The plot: Emily meets the love of her life, Adam. Adam is a pretentious ass and treats Emily like dirt. His mother, Pammie, treats her even worse and Emily thinks she's a psycho. Then there’s James, Adam’s brother whom Emily has the hots for. But hey, it must be true love because Emily is going to marry Adam no matter who or what gets in her way, including his psychotic mother and dreamy brother. But there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes and poor Emily is in for a rude awakening!

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when female characters come off as desperate and unintelligent when it comes to finding a man. Sure, Adam treats Emily like sh*t but she’s never felt this way about any man before so it must be true love. This level of stupidity irks me like no other. I almost DNF’d as I couldn’t bear to read any more about Emily’s stupid choices, but I kept going hoping that there would be a payoff. I’m not sure that there was, but the twist certainly put things in a different perspective.

The Other Woman is very readable, especially if you can tolerate Emily’s moronic choices and don’t get frustrated by her whiny voice. There are many elements that just don’t make sense and some of the relationships felt extremely contrived. The twist was different than what I was expecting and is why I gave this book 2.5 stars vs. the initial 2 I was planning on. I think this would have been a whole heck of a lot more interesting if it was told through Pammie’s eyes. Now that would have been a truly twisted read!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

Emily loves Adam. But his mother is difficult. Pammie comments on Emily's weight...causes problems whenever she can....and is just a complete pain in the butt. Obviously the woman wants them to break up. When Emily and Adam get engaged and their wedding approaches, the problems with Pammie only increase and even take on a sinister feel. Emily wants Adam....but what about Pammie? What is she going to do next?

Oh. My God. This book made me mad, sad and even scared. Some real creepy feels. I was totally into this story from the first snarky Pammie comment to the twist at the very end. From an emotional standpoint, I had a hard time reading this book without getting mad....Pammie really pulls some klunkers. I wanted to hop into the book and tell that woman what I thought about her and tell Emily to stand up for herself. So hard to be just the reader joining in on the story as only an observer. My one problem with this story is that Emily NEVER stands up for herself...she never really questions the situation enough to realize she should be exiting the relationship. She just has small temper tantrums and spits of anger....but then apologizes to Adam instead of standing her ground. Oh my....how weak willed and doormatish can you be? BUT, this is a suspense novel....and if Emily had stood up for herself, told Adam to go F himself and walked away to another relationship, it would have been a very short story. She had to be a bit weak for the storyline to work. And I've known women who put up with similar situations...so it isn't far from realism. It just heightened the suspense for me as I wanted to tell Emily she was an idiot for most of the book and I was waiting for Pammie to go absolutely mental. Great story. Emotionally exhausting, but great.

This is Sandie Jones' debut novel. I will definitely be reading more by this author! Her next book, Before Your Lies, will be published in June 2019.

I loved the pre-publication publicity for this book with the #WatchOutForPammie and other hashtags. I thought I was totally on Emily's side for the first part of this book.....but after finishing the entire thing....Emily is just too wishywashy for me. I think I will go with a side character and be #TeamSeb all the way! Best character in the book IMHO. Go Seb! Bestie stood by his friend Em to the end! :)

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. No future mother in laws were harmed during the reading of this book.**

This was a thrilling roller coaster ride, with an exciting twist! Just when I thought my ex-MIL was crazy, this book made me second guess myself, lol.

4.5 stars for this psychological thriller! The twist in this one was not what I expected. I’ll be brief in the synopsis of this book as you can read the description without me rehashing it all. Plus, I don’t want to give too much away.

Emily meets Adam. They fall for one another, meet each other’s families, and the relationship progresses. Adam’s mom, Pammie, acts like a psycho that is obsessed with her sons and only Emily sees it. Pammie is a great love-to-hate-her character that makes you just cringe whenever she’s around. Emily stuck around way longer than I would have. I won’t say anything else other than this is a must read for anyone that loves a good psychological suspense.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for this ARC!

Adam picks up Emily in a bar and they quickly fall in love. It is when Emily meets Adam's mother, she begins to understand that he is a Mommy's boy and his mother can do no wrong. Except she is a completely different person around Emily, and she is the only one that can see it.

This is a fast paced page turner with a surprising ending. Get on the roller coaster, hang on and enjoy the ride!

This is author Sandie Jones' debut novel and I can't wait to see what she has next.

Cliche' after cliche', contradiction after contradiction, eye roll after eye roll....

Confrontations started but then just abruptly ended, leaving me wanting so much more.

The whole premise was just too absurd from me to take seriously.

Others have had much better luck with this though, so what the heck do I know?

ARC provided by NetGalley

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Emily was picked up in a bar. She wasn’t looking for a man, but this adorable, well-dressed guy offers to buy her a drink and one thing leads to another. Emily falls fast and hard for Adam. He is a perfect man; smart, handsome, fun and single.

Their relationship begins to move at the speed of light. Dates turned to cohabitation, living together they quickly become engaged and everything in Emily’s world revolves around Adam. The only glitch in the relationship is Adam’s mother. He is truly a momma’s boy and will drop any and everything if she calls. And oddly enough, he has not brought Emily to his mother’s home so they can actually meet.

Once they do meet, Emily is even more confused. His mom seems delightful. That is until she is left alone with her. It is as though her future mother-in-law has two personalities. She is a sweet little old woman that needs 100% of her son’s attention that can turn into a conniving, meddling woman that will do anything to drive a wedge between her precious son and Emily in the blink of an eye. What lengths will this woman take to keep Emily and Adam from being together?

Emily cannot say anything against the other woman in Adam’s life, even when she begins to fear for her life. Something is going on that seems to be escalating into madness and Emily is going to have to get out of the situation before there is no turning back. But will Adam believe her?

This amazingly intricate psychological thriller cannot be put down. Just when you think you have everyone figured out, you realize nothing and no one is what and who they seem to be. Or are they? I literally did not know what was going to happen until the last pages. In my opinion that is a fabulous psychological thriller.

This is the author Sandie Jones’ debut novel. It is an intriguing tale of mystery, suspense and of course a twisted psychological thriller. Ms. Jones is an author not to be missed; I am looking forward to reading more by this amazing author.

Copyright © 2018 Laura Hartman

4.5 stars

This book is full of so many twists! Just when I thought I had things figured out, I discovered I was wrong. It was so hard to put this book down, as I wanted to keep reading “just one more chapter.” If you think your mother-in-law is something else, just wait until you meet Pammie! I can’t believe this is the author’s debut book. I look forward to reading many more from this talented writer. The Other Woman is a psychological thriller at its finest!

Emily is leery to be in a new relationship after her ex cheated on her. But, then she meets Adam, and she realizes it’s possible to have a second chance at love. Then it comes time to meet Adam’s mom, Pammie. She appears to be a loving mother, but she treats Emily like she’s not good enough for her precious son, and Pammie goes to great lengths to show that (including multiple attempts at sabotaging their relationship). Of course, Adam is oblivious to it all. Will Pammie succeed, or can Emily stand her ground and have the marriage she’s always dreamed she could have?

The ending was totally unexpected! The book is fast-paced, and I wanted—no, needed—to finish the book and find out what happened. The Other Woman is one of the best books I’ve read this year (and I’ve read over 100 so far). It made me want to laugh, cry, and even throw the book (or, in my case, my Kindle) across the room on occasion. Flashbacks were interspersed throughout to fill in all the relevant details, but they never felt like info dumps. Sure, Adam and Emily seemed to rush to their engagement, but that does happen in real life, as well. If you’re looking for a new read that will grab you from the start, this is one to add to your list.

This review was posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review